basbousa

Whether you call it Namoura, Basbousa, or just Semolina cake this recipe will delight. Made with semolina flour, almonds, and topped with a simple syrup.

Namoura

½ cups coarse semolina flour

sugar

ghee (melted)

milk

baking powder

tahini

almonds

water

orange blossoms water

lemon juice

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the semolina, sugar and ghee until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the milk and baking powder and continue mixing until batter comes together, 1-2 more minutes.

Allow mixture to rest covered for 45 minutes to soften the semolina.

Meanwhile, make the simple syrup. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in the orange blossom water and lemon juice. Pour syrup into a heat proof container and allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush the tahini on the bottom of a 9x9 baking dish. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. Wet your palms with water and spread the mixture evenly with your hands.

Cut the semolina cake into diamonds by making 5 cuts lengthwise and 8 cuts crosswise on the diagonal. Place an almond into each diamond. Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Pour the cold simple syrup on top of the hot semolina cake as soon as you remove it from the oven. Allow the cake to cool for at least one hour before serving.

Basbousa is an Egyptian semolina cake drenched in syrup. Today, I'm sharing my aunt Maha's special recipe!

Basbousa: Almond Coconut Semolina Cake Recipe

unsalted butter

yogurt

fine semolina PLUS 1 cup coarse semolina (or 2 cups coarse semolina

tsp baking powder

coconut or coconut chips

cinnamon stick

Place the butter in a small bowl and melt in the microwave. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine together the sugar and yogurt. Now add in the semolina, baking powder and milk. Finally stir in the melted butter, and let the mixture sit briefly so that the butter is absorbed.

Transfer the semolina mixture into a lightly greased 9"-round cake pan or baking dish. Bake in the 350 degrees F-heated oven for about 40-45 minutes. If necessary, broil ever so briefly so that the top of the basbousa gains color. Watch carefully. When ready, remove from oven.

While the cake is baking, prepare the cinnamon simple syrup. In a small sauce pan or pot, combine the sugar, water and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil on high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Turn heat to low and let cook for a few minutes until the syrup thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Let cool completely, then remove the cinnamon stick.

As soon as the basbousa is removed from the oven, pour the cool syrup on the hot basbousa. Let cool completely; syrup must be absorbed into the cake. For best result, let it sit for 1 hour before serving.

When ready to serve, top the cake with the coconut chips and the coconut and shaved almonds. Slice and enjoy!

Hello. My family loves this recipe. It is my husbands one request for his birthday each year! This year, we are feeding way more people than usual and I want to multiply the recipe and bake in a 9x13. How would you adjust the time for baking?

It was my first Basboussa ever and we are 3 people in my familly but tonight we are already halfway of the dessert ! 
My husband told me that's what I have to bake for Eid ! 
I just use the fine semolina because in this little town you cant found anything ! arg !
So I don't know what is the result when you have both semolina, but anyway this one was excellent !  I was a fan of  "Qalb el louz" when I was in France but I don't know, maybe I prefer Basboussa finaly ??
thank you for the diner !

Basbousa is a pastry typical of the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans made from semolina and ground almonds, that is soaked in flavored syrup.

Basbousa

fine durum wheat semolina

caster sugar

cooled oil ((or melted butter))

plain yogurt

salt

pistachios

rose water ((or orange blossom water))

butter

flour

Baking dish ((10 inch / 25 cm square))

Start by preparing the syrup as it will need to be completely chilled to soak the hot cake.

Pour the water, sugar and lemon juice into a saucepan over high heat.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and cook the syrup over low to medium heat for up to 10 minutes.

When the syrup is completely cold, add rose water (or orange blossom water) and mix well.

Syrup

In a large bowl, combine the semolina, ground almonds, caster sugar, salt and baking powder. Add oil, yogurt, and mix.

Grease a baking dish and dust with flour before pouring the preparation.

Pack the preparation well and smooth it out to the corners with a spatula. Using a knife, pre-cut 2-inch (5 cm) squares.

Allow the preparation to rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 F (200°C ) while the dough is resting.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cake is golden brown.

Cake

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour the cooled syrup over it, leaving the cake inside the mold and spreading the syrup evenly.

Sprinkle generously with crushed pistachios. Allow to cool completely before cutting the pieces along the pre-cut marks.

Soaking and garnishing

Basbousa is one of the most popular Middle Eastern cakes. It is made of coarse semolina flour and sweetened by simple syrup. It comes together effortlesly and is always a crowd-pleaser.

Basbousa (Middle Eastern Semolina Cake)

Plain Yogurt

Sugar

1.5 tsp Baking Powder

tsp Baking Soda

Semolina, coarse

Butter, unsalted, melted (this is equivalent to 1 stick of butter)

Fine Coconut Flakes

Milk

tbsp Tahini Paste (this is used to coat the baking pan)

Whole Almonds (enough for each piece of semolina cake. approx. 24 almonds)

Water

lemon

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Prep your 9x13 baking dish by brushing the bottom of edges of the pan with the tahini paste.

In a bowl, mix the yogurt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda together. Set that to the side. You will notice the yogurt slighty bubble and rise.

In another bowl, stir together the semolina with the melted butter until it begins to come together. At this point, fold in the coconut powder as well.

Add the yogurt mixture into the semolina mixture and combine the two well. To this, add the milk. Mix until a cohesive batter comes together.

Add the batter into the prepped baking pan spreading it out evenly. Tap the baking pan against a surface to release any air bubbles that may be in the batter before baking.

The batter is thick enough to cut into pre baking. Cut into even squares or diamonds in the size of your preference. I got approx. 24 pieces out of my pan. See video above for demonstration.

Add a whole almond to the center of each piece just tapping it gently into the batter. You can also add a sprinkle of coconut powder over the top of the batter if you would like before baking.

Bake uncovered in the oven for 25-30 min on the bottom rack until the edges start to brown. Then, move the pan to the top rack for another 5-10 minutes so the whole cake gets a beautiful light brown color.

While the cake bakes, prepare the simple syrup by stirring together the sugar and water until the sugar is completely dissolved. Let this simmer for about 8 minutes until it thickens and add a asqueezeof lemon at the end.

Once the cake is out of the oven, re-inforce the previously cut lines by going over it again with a sharp knife. Then, pour the warm syrup all over the top of the semolina cake. The cake especially when warm will soak it up.

Allow for the cake to cool completely for at least an hour before taking the slices out or you can risk it crumbling. You also want the cake to absorb all of the syrup. Enjoy a slice with a cup of tea or coffee!

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The most viewed basbousa recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine